This invention is concerned with an apparatus for continuously producing and maturing curds, which is able to feed a cheese processing line substantially continuously, particularly in the production of pasta filata cheese, such as mozzarella and the like.
In the production of pasta filata cheese, numerous machines have been developed in past years for mechanizing different processing steps, such as curd stretching or cooking, moulding the stretched curd into several round or cylindrical shapes, hardening the cheese in cold water or brine, packaging the finished cheese in envelopes of different types. This has progressively reduced the manual toil and repetitiveness, while production has been transformed to a large extent into a continuous process, replacing the batch processing which was previously used, and which involved a large requirement of manpower.
However, the initial step of curd production and maturation has not been made continuous until now, as well as the curd delivery to the stretching machine at the start of the continuous line, because this would inevitably give rise to undesirable changes in biochemical factors, and therefore also to alterations of the product with respect to the consumers' expectations. Curdling, curd maturation, and subsequent loading of the curd to the stretching machine are operations that are still performed by batches, the immediately subsequent handling (curd dicing and curd feeding to the stretching, moulding and hardening lines) being performed manually; the curds are poured from the cheesemaking vats to movable trucks, where the curd is manually cut into blocks and then loaded, block by block, often still by hand, to the hoppers of the stretching or cooking machines. This mode of operation, besides the obvious cost disadvantage due to the considerable involvement of manpower, also has other drawbacks, such as toil and boredom for the staff, and, even more important, physical contact between the working persons and the curds, which is undesirable for health reasons.
The main object of the invention is therefore to provide an apparatus or device which, without altering the traditional biochemical process of curd production, and without forcing changes in the traditional techniques of curd production, is capable of providing a substantially continuous and mechanized delivery of mature curds to the stretching machine at the start of the subsequent continuous processing line.